48. Brooks
48
brOOKS
Maddie stopped walking at the edge of the woods, her face frozen with shock.
God, she’s so beautiful.
So beautiful that he couldn’t breathe for several seconds, his chest tight.
How did I ever walk away from her?
Maddie checked back over her shoulder in the direction she’d come from and didn’t come any farther. “What are you doing here?”
“I saw an interesting news segment yesterday. Tried to call Cormac, but he didn’t answer. So I got Naomi’s number from Kayla.” He looped his thumbs into his jean pockets and took a few steps forward. “She told me everything.”
Maddie crossed her arms. “She shouldn’t have. I swore her to secrecy.”
She isn’t happy to see you.
“There may have been some begging involved. Of the variety where I literally said, I’m begging you.” Brooks’s shoulders sagged, a hopeless feeling settling in him.
She’s never going to forgive you.
“For the record, she made it clear she doesn’t think I deserve you. And she’s right. But . . . I had to try.”
“Try what?” Maddie came closer, her eyes guarded. “To surprise me with a picnic in some random woods and say you’re sorry?” She stopped an arm’s length away, close enough to touch but far enough that he felt the distance between them.
“Actually, it’s not just random. It’s forty acres of secluded property . . . that I just bought from Jason Cavanaugh.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“It’ll take a while before I can put a house on it. There are permits and then building the thing. I thought about just buying the lake house at first, but I didn’t want anything that had memories for us—good or bad. You know, a fresh start.”
Brooks came closer, longing to touch her. “I have ached for you with my every breath, Madison. Leaving you was unforgivable, and I’m still terrified. I know I can’t protect you perfectly, and that scares me down to my core. But living without you scares me more. So I’m begging you, please forgive me. I want to be with you and only you, Maddie. Forever. You’re branded in my soul.”
Her eyes shone with tears. “I just—” She swallowed and squeezed her eyes shut. “And you think it’s possible for us to be together now?”
“Naomi told me about the case you were mounting against Mike . . . so I called my lawyer’s friend at the FBI, who filled me in on the rest. He just sent me a message and let me know Mike’s been arrested. Anything Mike had on us will be destroyed.”
That, by itself, was a victory they should celebrate, but she didn’t appear happy about it. Or relieved. She just nodded, blinking a few tears away.
“I know that’s your win, Maddie. You did it. I can’t promise there won’t be other threats, but that one, at least, won’t be hanging over us anymore. And that’s a huge deal to me.”
Somehow, nothing he said seemed right. Or good enough.
Will she ever forgive me?
After another moment, she looked at him more directly. “You hurt me in a way I didn’t know I could hurt, Brooks. I’ve had my heart broken before, but never like that. Never. When you walked away, it felt like the world went dark. And then your silence . . . that hurt me the most of all.”
“I wanted you to be safe. I didn’t want Mike—or anyone—thinking you were a weakness in me to exploit. To hurt you.”
“I know why you did what you did.” She clasped her hands together. “I understood it, and you made that much clear. But what I didn’t understand—what I still can’t understand—is why you thought you needed to keep sacrificing everything. Why you insisted on doing it all alone. You had me, Brooks. You had me. And you still did it all alone.”
He couldn’t take it any longer and reached for her, tugging her toward him. “I’m sorry, Maddie. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. I promise, I’ll never try to take everything on by myself again. Please let me make it up to you and make a home with you here, to start over again.”
She stiffened at his touch, her eyes pained, filled with hurt.
Shaking her head, she whispered, “No.”
His hand dropped, stunned.
No.
He’d worried that she might not forgive him.
But considered it as an actual possibility? That he’d leave here without her . . .
“Maddie, I love you.” Tears stung his eyes, and he squeezed them shut. “I?—”
She set her fingertips to his mouth. “You can’t build a home with me here. Not yet. You’re not ready, Brooks. We’d be setting ourselves up for failure again because you were right . . . I love Brandywood, but it’s not the right place for you, for us, right now.”
She drew her hand back and stroked his cheek. “Which is why I bought a one-way ticket to LA tomorrow morning. I guess neither of our sisters are good at keeping secrets because Kayla gave me all your information, too.”
He let out a strangled breath, his lips parting in shock.
. . . what?
Maddie came closer and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you, Brooks Kent. Of course I forgive you. You have to swear to me you’ll never be so stupid again, of course, but?—”
He cut her off with a kiss, his hands cupping her face, fingers splayed across her jaw.
She cried softly, then kissed him back, her mouth crushing to his deeply.
“I love you,” he whispered between kisses. “I love you, Madison. I’m so sorry. So sorry.”
Their tears mingled as she returned his kisses, clinging to him with her entire body.
“It’s you and me, Brooks, you understand? Together. I won’t survive you ever doing something like that to me again. I love you too much to live without you.”
“What about your grandfather?” he asked suddenly, scanning her face. “He offered you a job?—”
“I talked about it with him this morning, actually. He’s going to ask Jake, instead. While I love the Depot and his business, it’s not what I see for myself right now. To tell you the truth, I’m sort of fascinated by the idea of being an entertainment manager. Maybe for a musician or something . . .”
He cracked a smile at her. “So long as you don’t mind sleeping with your boss.”
From the tree line came the sound of a car radio turned all the way up.
“ Ever With Me .”
Maddie pulled her face away and laughed, sniffling as she wiped her tears away. “That’s Naomi reminding us she’s still there.”
Brooks chuckled, wrapping her tightly in his arms. His chin rested on the top of her head. “She probably doesn’t want to be witness to anything else.”
“I’m pretty over witnesses, too. Maybe we could go somewhere else, though?”
Brooks nodded and pulled back. “We don’t have to stay here. Where do you want to go? Paris? Abu Dhabi?” The corners of his eyes crinkled.
“Someday you’re going to learn . . . I don’t need to go anywhere fancy, Brooks.” Maddie reached for his hand and interlaced their fingers. “Let’s go home.”
Home.
Home was wherever Maddie Yardley was.
He knew that now.